Surnames

Saturday, December 31, 2011

I'm not one for making New Year Resolutions. Can't remember when the last time I did. But goals, I can do, so for 2012 here are a couple of "Goals" I'm going to pursue.

Goal #1
Since I'm the curator of family photos, my family, my husband's family and our family's, I'm putting it in writing that I will organize/sort through all the photos, name the people in the photos, add dates as best I can, categorize them, scan them and burn them to DVDs to be shared with the rest of our families (brother, sisters, cousins, aunts, etc).

I feel this is a very attainable goal for the next 12 months. All the organizing will help with clearing out "stuff" that we've hung onto throughout the years. I've already brought several car full of bags to our local Goodwill store. More is coming their way.

Goal #2
Before the holidays hit, my sister and I started a family cookbook. It didn't get publish for the holidays as I would have liked so this is my second goal. I wanted to include family stories and photos. We're including recipes that we grew up with and recipes that we've made and enjoyed. Now that the holidays are over I'm anxious to roll up my sleeves and dive in.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Often times December birthdays get over shadowed by the Christmas/New Year holidays. So I'm going to shine a spotlight on those family members this time around.

December 1, 1926, my mom Bernice Josephine Ramminger was born. Whenever December 1st showed up on the calendar I knew the holidays were FAST approaching. It kind of seems like her birthday was here, then over with real fast.

December 6, 1951, my husband's birthday. This year was the big 60! I surprised him and took him to a Crowne Plaza Hotel, reserved a suite and had a wonderful dinner in the hotel's restaurant. From our balcony, we had a view of the Pacific Ocean and of the surrounding mountains. Either way you looked, day or night, the view was breathtaking. Happy Birthday Honey, I love you!

December 31, 1976, my cousin's daughter Kim was born. They lived across the country from us so we really didn't celebrate her birthday with them. She now has two children of her own and looks forward to their birthdays.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Today would have been my mom's 85th birthday.It was the one time during the year she didn't have to make the cake.Each year on her birthday, I think back to the ones we helped her celebrate.

I don't recall with clarity every birthday, but a few do stand out.When she was turning 39 she remarked, "Now I'm the same age as Jack Benny."I remember her telling her father (grandpa Hank) the same thing and they had a good laugh.

Victoria Station

The year she turned 60, my sister, two daughters and I took her to dinner to celebrate.We went to the Victoria Station Universal City, a landmark on the "hill" near where Citywalk now stands.It was a railroad-themed prime rib house.The theme of the restaurant was loosely based on London's Victoria Station. Antique English railway artifacts provided the décor inside.It even had a trolley car from the parking lot up to the restaurant.She enjoyed the evening very much.

When she turned 70, my sister, brother, his two sons, my husband, our two daughters and myself celebrated by taking her to the Tony Roma's at Universal Studios Citywalk.Afterwards we strolled throughout Citywalk watching street performers and jumping in and out of the different stores.She said she had a very nice time and was glad everyone came.

Mom passed away in 1997, just shy of her 71st birthday.Happy Birthday mom, miss you much!